LAS VEGAS — Statistics, it was once said, are a lot like a woman’s bathing suit. It reveals as much as it conceals.
But the numbers do not lie.
As the countdown for the anticipated rematch ticks to its final few hours, here are some of the interesting numbers.
0 — That’s how often Michael Buffer will make announcements in the undercard or main event of tonight’s offering. Per The Washington Post, the legendary 73-year old ring barker has recently signed exclusively with streaming giant DAZN, ending his days at HBO.
1 — Of the many tryhards only one actually looks like Canelo Alvarez. His name is Larry Treybig and as desperately selfie-seeking chased him all over the T-Mobile Arena the man who fancies himself as “Americanelo” provided light moments to what had otherwise been a belligerent weigh-in on Friday afternoon.
21 — It’s the number of middleweight title defenses GGG has made in his 12-year career, surpassing the previous mark of 20 established by Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins.
28 — That’s how young Canelo is. But because his knockout percentage is only 68 percent compared to Golovkin’s elite 87 percent, Canelo has soldiered through more total rounds in their combined careers — 364 to 184.
36 — That’s how old Gennady Golovkin is. But not many are ready to concede that the amiable Kazakh is a step slower. In fact, with 34 KOs in 38 victories, including a streak of 23, many would agree that Triple G’s booming right hand is still a more effective sleep inducer than Ambien.
159.4 — The pounds Canelo was at weigh-in. He looked slightly-dehydrated though, resembling a strip jerky beef, unstained of course, and no pun intended. If Clint Eastwood was the Pale Ride, Canelo must be the Pale Fighter.
159.6 — That’s how much weight GGG packed when he tipped the scales. Unlike his younger nemesis, Golovkin appeared well-hydrated, fresh as newly-baked bread. The undisputed middleweight king is poised to rectify the disputed draw that defined GGG vs Canelo 1.
1,559 — In terms of U.S. dollars that’s how much the average ticket price was for each of the 17,318 tickets sold in the first GGG-Canelo fight. The rematch figures to be somewhere in that neighborhood but it still limps way behind the Pacquiao versus Mayweather duel in 2015 which earned $72 million or an average price of $4,439 per ticket.
As fight night nears, we can drown in more stats or ponder at more speculative thoughts as to who will emerge victorious.
But this much we can all agree: We just want ONE entertaining fight that will produce a clear winner, untouched by suspicious judging.
